Some super exciting news that I've been bursting to share for a whole week!!!

Hi everyone, yay it's Wednesday ~

Check this out...what do you think? Pretty cool huh?
Can you believe it? I've been accepted on the fabulously famous Just Add Ink design team. It's very exciting, and nerve wracking and exciting, and fun and did I mention I'm just a little nervous?

I've never been on a design team before and honestly didn't think I ever would be. BFF always manages to push me out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing really. She encouraged - actually she *MADE* me respond to the Just Add Ink call out for new design team members a couple of weeks ago :o) I was really shocked when I got the email last week saying that they'd love to have me. I truly didn't think I'd have a chance among all the super talented crafters out there. I'm still pinching myself :o)

Every Friday there is a super new challenge, heaps of design team inspiration and lots of fun to be had. I hope you come along and play soon. For now go on over and check out all the talented team members at Just Add Ink.

Installment two - not craft related

Hi and happy Saturday to you ~

Did I mention that gorgeous kid hasn't kept the smile off his face all week! He's been ripping through his homework as quick as he possibly can just to get outside and play with the billy cart. It's giving him so much fun and entertainment. It's lovely to see his little face so bright and happy.

Bit by bit he's been making it 'his' starting with a padded seat and cushion - the bruises across his back looked painful! Last weekend he painted it, with help on the tricky parts. Totally cool! Check it out...

The sun is deceptive, believe me it is not warm despite those shorts! Gorgeous kid and I are constantly arguing about wearing warmer clothes or 'at least putting a hoodie on'. Those sleeves are for my benefit only lol. He usually tells me that 'kids don't feel the cold like old people' god love him. Don't you love the flames?

Below is an action shot, not that my photography skills actually show that effectively. We live on a hill so it's perfect for billy carting by himself - not a lot of lugging and pulling to get started and he can keep going for quite some time. He painted our surname along the length (because I don't know the official name of that part - and here I was thinking I could help him build one) and I think it's now officially 'his'. Right now he's waiting for a little mate to come and pick him + cart up to head over and play at the other boy's house - they live across the valley on a hill also so I imagine they are going to have a blast today. And bonus part of that is I get time in the craft room on my own.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend wherever you are!

A kind and generous person made gorgeous kid the happiest boy ever!!!

Happy Friday ~

I have a little (okay pretty long) story to tell you before I show you my craft item for today, feel free to skip it, but it's a feel good so you may want to stick with it :o)

On our last long weekend in Canberra, gorgeous kid discovered billy carts (remember those rickety wonky pieces of wood on wheels from our youth - hmmm might be giving my age away here lol)! Well he wanted one and set about modifying a skateboard and an old plastic crate he found some place. Hours later he came inside asking for rope - he'd found packing tape in the garage and had used copious amounts (you can just imagine) and was completely frustrated that it wasn't working. Quite ingenious though I thought.

I didn't have any rope just lying around for such an occasion so promised we would go to the hardware store the following day - we're late, dark and cold Saturday night at this point. Sunday he's at me well before I'm even awake properly, and hours before the stores open. So to keep the peace and hasten time a little before we could head off we got on the computer and googled 'how to make a billy cart'. All of a sudden it became our long weekend project to do together. How that happened I don't know but I had to stick with it....couldn't be that hard, looked basic enough in the plans, I've got a few boy tools....so off to one of the major hardware stores we went armed with our plans and equipment list and a pocket full of money gorgeous kid has been saving for something just like this.

Couldn't find a thing on the list, gee it was already getting complicated :o) Now I'm fairly self sufficient and don't need to rely on a male to get most things done....but we were wasting precious time! Found a lovely man whose job description is to 'help' as he cheerfully told us. He spent ages with us, taking us from aisle to aisle and choosing all the bits and pieces we needed for our billy cart. He was super helpful, but half an hour in he started to shake his head telling us it was going to cost a fortune - that combined with a few larger tools he kept mentioning had me re-thinking this whole project - how on earth was I going to pull this off, it was getting really complicated and we hadn't even got the supplies home yet!

To cut to the chase this very kind and generous man offered to make my son a billy cart, using scraps and bits he had at home, all we had to do was buy the wheels. Not only would he make it, but it would be ready the following day. He would accept nothing I offered as thanks and he was unable to accept cash payment. Soooo after thinking all week and trying to come up with something that would be of use gorgeous kid and I decided a gift card for dinner (that he can enjoy with his wife), a car wash voucher and chocolates may be something nice and helpful to him.

This little gift box is perfect to package the gifts up in. It won't look over the top and embarrass him I hope. Phew after all that here it is - looks innocent enough don't you think?

I used Soft Suede c/s, ink and ribbon. Not Quite Navy c/s and ink along with some misc dsp (that is really lovely blue/green irl and looks great with the SS), Cheep Talk, Sincere Salutations and Best Yet Stamp sets, Little Leaves BS die and Nesties x 2.

Wait for installment two tomorrow - I promise it won't be super long :o)

Sharing some Love

Back so soon? Told you I would be :o)

I've been waiting a couple of days to photograph this little cutie, it's been overcast and dull lately. When I saw Keesh's little gift boxes I decided they were the perfect size for little 'thinking of you' gifts, so I purchased the template (Lauren Meader over at PTI). What fun they are to put together, and they take no time at all.

This little box is full of Lindt chocolate. It's for a lovely friend of mine who is going through some real crap (there is just no other word) at the moment. I know it will put a small smile on her face and that's the main thing right now :o)

I've used Melon Mambo c/s, ink and ribbon, the full heart punch, misc thread, bling and dsp from my stash.

Have a great day!

Deal of the Week 4

Wow I can't believe we're at week 4 of 'deals'. It's been really fun to have the suspense and excitement of new specials coming each week. I hope we get to do this again sometime.

Okay the bargains for this fourth and final week are bling and ribbon! We can never have enough of either I say :o)

• Square Ice Rhinestone brads
• Square Fire Rhinestone brads
• Circle Ice Rhinestone brads

All normally $19.95...NOW $11.97. You can find these on page 149.

• Bashful Blue 1 inch double stitched grosgrain ribbon -Normally $19.95...NOW $10.97. Check out page 150.
  

• Certainly Celery 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon -Normally $14.95...NOW $8.97. Page 151

I know I'll be stocking up on these items, I can't resist a good bargain! If you want more bling in your life let me know before next Tuesday 29 June.

I'll be back with something to show you very soon.

Card Gift Boxes

Hmmmm well I had a little nana nap this afternoon and as such I'm wide awake - that'll teach me lol.

A crafty friend of mine needed to make a couple of boxes she plans on filling with cards as gifts for some colleagues. She works in finance though and has been working around the clock lately so I offered to whip them up for her. They took next to no time at all - thanks to my handy scor pal :o)

I've kept them pretty conservative because I don't know the recipients, as such the tags are also blank.

Unfortunately I can't show you the cards going inside, however, I am told they are feminine and use Rose Red so to try and keep the theme going I used a base of Kraft and the lids are made with Rose Red dsp and topped with misc organza ribbon. Four to five cards and envelopes fit neatly inside. Lucky colleagues!!

Sweet 16

Yay it's Saturday ~

Combine girly with purple with bling with 16...and this is the card I came up with. I think I managed to get it all on there lol. I based my card loosely on last weeks JAI#21 sketch challenge. I haven't put too much on the scallop front because the dsp is busy enough on its own I think. Anyway you judge for yourself :o)

All items SU! unless stated:

Rich Razzleberry card stock, ink & ribbon
Very Vanilla card stock
Vintage Vogue Stamps (inside)
Big Shot Scallop Die, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Tombow Glue, Dimensionals
Misc: Cupcake stamp, nestabilities, chipboard numbers, dsp from my stash, copic markers, bling

Have a great weekend, hope the sun is shining where you are & so wish it was shining here today!

Pumpkin Surprise

Hi there, happy Friday ~

Yesterday I posted off a couple of little parcels to BFF and dear friend Karen - both know they're coming so no surprises really :o)

These little treasures hold lots of little crochet flowers in various designs. Both girls say they can't master crochet so I decided to make some for them. I tried to find thread colours to match some of the SU! card stock colours - whisper white, very vanilla, choc chip, basic grey, real red, melon mambo, rich razzleberry....it's always nice to mix it up a little.

As everyone who reads my blog knows I've really been lacking inspiration lately, as such these little boxes are decorated quite minimally - but still nicer than a cello bag don't you think :o)

I used Pumpkin Pie and matching dsp, along with so saffron ribbon.

This little box uses Kraft with Bella Bleu dsp and very vanilla ribbon - both ribbons look very similar in these pics which were taken yesterday while it was dull and overcast :o)

I've not long arrived home from a physio appointment. Wow, today he did lots of manipulation and massaging of the wrist area and I got some movement that I haven't had in months - it was a rather exciting moment! He warned me that it will seize up again, but now I'm going to see him every three days I'm staying positive that it can only improve. Yay!!!

Note Book

I'm back just briefly to post a pic. Now I did follow Amy's tips, however, it is still very difficult on an overcast dull rainy day to get decent light. So this will just have to do....

My darling cousin Kieren often sends me little gifts and surprises in the post, and this was a cute little (plain) note book. Ages and ages ago I saw a note book covered with these particular Washington Apple papers and I stored it away in the back of my mind for one rainy day... I wish I could give credit where it's due but it was a very long time ago and I didn't note it down.

I used white 'thickers' for the lettering and following a tip from my downline Kate (who doesn't have her own blog yet!) I sponged RHR ink on them to match the papers. My fingers ended up quite inky, hence that tiny little smudge at bottom right - luckily I'm going to be using this little note book myself. I finished the letters by glossing them up a bit with Crystal Effects.

This post is for Patricia!

Hi everyone ~

Well I swear every time I make a post these days it's raining lol. I know I've told you we rarely get rain in Canberra, it seems this is our year to get the dam levels up again and hopefully lose some of our water restrictions come summer. Wow wouldn't that be good. I know gorgeous kid would love to put the sprinkler on and run through it like I did when I was small. Those little luxuries just aren't a part of our kids lives these days unfortunately.

I know I said I'd be back yesterday with a pic of a couple of little projects, however, the weather is not conducive to decent photography right now - and we all know I'm not good at that at the best of times :o) so stay tuned and hopefully later! Speaking of taking pics, I came across Amy's Top Tips for Terrific Photos last week and I'm hoping my limited skills in that area will improve soon.

I've had a few private emails asking for details on how to re-create this gorgeous card Karen sent me. It is a purchased tutorial so if you go here you can check all the details for yourself, and maybe even find some other projects to keep you busy :o)

Deal of the Week 3

Hi everyone

Wow Stamp Sets are the deal and there are some fabulous savings - up to 50% off!

A Happy Heart... was $41.95... NOW ONLY $20.98 (page 34 in the catalogue)


Greetings Eight...was $49.95...NOW ONLY $24.98 (page 57)


Bella's Bloom (how cute is this set!)...was $24.95... NOW ONLY $14.97 (page 78)


Enjoy Every Moment...was $53.95...NOW ONLY $26.98 (page 97)


All Scallops...was $55.98...NOW ONLY $27.98 (page 105)


If you want or NEED to grab any or all of these sets at the fabulously reduced price let me know. Be back shortly with a little something I put together last night :o)

Deal of the Week 2

Stampin' Up! are offering 35-40% off selected Designer Series Paper this week. A couple of my favourites are on this list!

• Haiku Designer Series Paper normally $16.95 now $10.17
• Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper normally $16.95 now $11.02
• Tea Party Designer Series Paper normally $16.95 now $10.17
• Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper normally $16.95 now $11.02
• Sweet Slumber Specialty Designer Series Paper normally $22.95 now $14.92

There are no minimums and no limits, so place your order today!

More Happy Mail

Hi there ~

I've actually been playing in my craft room today - I'm about to churn out 6 cards for my stash. I never seem to have many cards just sitting waiting for an emergency moment. I've decided that from now on when I create a card I'm going to make two so that one gets added to the stash.

Anyway I really came here to show you what my dear friend Karen made for me last week 'just because'. How super sweet, and very clever. And she shared the tutorial with me so stay tuned I may just give one of these a go :o)


How bright and happy is this card. I love it!

Off to organise dinner and get all my chores out of the way before Desperate Housewives! Have a good night peeps!

Crochet Flowers

Wow another week has passed me by. At this rate I'll have no readers left :o)

I'm feeling SO uncreative at the moment - I have a million card ideas racing in and out of my head, but it's such a jumble I can't settle on one thing. So instead I've been sitting in front of the tv most evenings with my crochet hook and thread (like a little old lady). I hadn't picked up a hook for a good 25 years and wondered if I'd even remember what mum had taught me way back when....it was like riding a bike for the most part, and I'd forgotten how quickly crochet grows, much more satisfying than knitting!

So here is my assortment of flowers, big, little, bright and white...


...now I just need to make some cards to add them to. I'll send a little parcel up to BFF in Qld too of course :o)

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

Deal of the Week 1

Throughout the month of June Stampin' Up! are bringing us a new deal every week! With the Deals of the Week, you'll get up to 50% off a selection of products from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue!

This week's deal is 30% off the following punches:

109183 Trio Flower punch
110711 Boho Blossoms punch
112081 Scallop Square punch
114889 Scallop Oval punch

Normal retail price $30.95 but until 8 June they're just $20.12. No limits!

You can see all the punches on pages 152/153 of the Idea Book & Catalogue with the exception of the Scallop Oval punch which is a carry over item from a mini catalogue.